Bangkok Hospital Udon Thani

Post by **FrazeeDK** » July 24, 2013, 5:49 pm

the wife and I took advantage of Bangkok Hospital's "Advanced" 4900 Baht health checkup the other day.. Scheduled it for 8AM got there a little early and spent until noon doing all the various lab tests, X-rays (chest and bone density), sonogram, dental exam etc.... A lengthy slightly slow process but we were escorted throughout the hospital for each test.. It all culminated in a doctor's interview and review of all the findings with the doctor making lifestyle recommendations and giving medical advice on attending to any significant issues.. I found the staff to be knowledgeable with varying degrees of English proficiency. We received copies of all tests with the promise that we would get a "health assessment" book via mail within a week or so.. Overall I was quite pleased with the process. A little more of a human touch there than in AEK and ZERO push to add anything to the bill or suggest potentially unnecessary additional consultations..

The only negative experience was eating in the small cafeteria.. I used the 100 Baht coupon that was part of our exam. Despite the place having only 3 other people in it when I ordered It took nearly 45 minutes to get breakfast (I was famished since I'd fasted for the blood tests). I paid up front prior to eating and the wife joined me while I was eating. After we finished eating when she went up to pay her bill the cashier tried to charge for my meal again (funny since she already had my meal coupon that had my name on it).. I was standing outside waiting and then walked back in to find the wife being double charged.. I nicely challenged the cashier in Thai stating I'd paid already.. A Thai Doctor interceded and between the two of us we straightened it out.. Seeing as how there were only 4 other people in the whole place I find it difficult to believe she "forgot" I'd paid already.

Post by **parrot** » July 25, 2013, 9:11 pm

My wife had a teeth scraping session at the hospital today......I called yesterday for an appointment which was easily made over the phone.
While there, I was told there are now 40 doctors on staff, a doctor who is available 24 hrs per day to make emergency ambulance runs (if the call is for urgent assistance), a yet-to-be-announced membership program that will give substantial discounts and other benefits, and news that the hospital is about to test out an inpatient TRICARE program. The hospital is now doing open-heart surgery. IMO, all very good news for the expat community.
710 Baht for the teeth cleaning/scraping.....about 40 minutes in the chair.

Post by **FrazeeDK** » July 26, 2013, 8:06 am

hey Parrot!! you've left your favorite and cheap dentist downtown????

Post by **parrot** » July 26, 2013, 10:29 am

Nope, they're still my favorite. I just went for a small cosmetic touch up a few weeks ago. But my wife likes how the dentist at BH deep scrapes.......she's into that sort of thing. Lucky bugger, except her wisdom teeth, they're all there......virtually unblemished.

Post by **bumper** » July 26, 2013, 5:18 pm

Thanks to Parrot mine as well.

Post by **LoneTraveler** » August 16, 2013, 11:48 am

Hello! I just did a search "health care insurance for a Thai child," the little information available is dated. I would like to hear from members that have insured their children with BUPA or any other insurer for medical (in hospital) coverage. Our child is now 6 which makes her eligible for coverage at a reasonable premium. The BUPA rep. in Udon explained the various policies available for her. ( my lady and I have separate insurance policies.) Mine from the States, hers from previous employer which allows her to keep coverage as long as she pays the monthly premium. Therefore, we are looking to just insure our child.

The policies the BUPA rep. discussed seemed to be more of a whole life insurance policy than that of medical coverage. The medical coverage was terrible, better paying out of pocket than the exorbitant premiums required. I would like to have medical coverage for WATTANA hospital because the few times I have been there, they were very efficient and effective. I am now hearing that perhaps Bangkok Hospital is also a good place to take our child in a medical emergency.

I would like to know that we have a good policy that will cover our child's medical needs in a good hospital. Thai people have a tendency to rush their family members to hospital even though they only have a case of the sniffles. I had to stop family from insisting our daughter go to hospital because she had a cold. I had baby aspirin for fever if and when, she developed one, and gave her plenty of fluids and kept an eye on her when sleeping listening for congestion. The grand parents insisted on an all night vigil. Our daughter was fine the next morning, the grand parents were not.

I would like to take advantage of the child wellness packages available at both WATTANA and Bangkok Hospitals if anyone has experience with them I would appreciate hearing from you.

Thank you

Thank you

Post by **bumper** » August 16, 2013, 1:04 pm

If you plan on using Bangkok Hospital. My wife's AIA policy I got 60% of the bill as a co-pay. She was paying about 18K a year for that.

We are on the process of upgrading her policy to Bupa, about the same annual premium, if you use the diamond plan.

We will have a meeting tomorrow to compare the Diamond plan 700 K coverage to the Platinum Plan 1 Million.

Platinum is 37K a year.

If I forget remind me and I will post the results of that meeting.

You can see the coverages for both plans in a Goggle search. One thing to remember about BUPA no claims a 10% discount the next year. My last Dr's visit to Bangkok Hospital cost me 110 baht. So only major medical is all I want. You need MEDS ask the Dr. f0r a prescription they will do it Take it to the local pharmacy and you will save a bundle.

One person expressed a friend getting charged 5,000 baht for a Dr's visit only. that has not been my experience

Post by **AA Ins Broker** » August 16, 2013, 2:48 pm

LoneTraveler wrote:Hello! I just did a search "health care insurance for a Thai child," the little information available is dated. I would like to hear from members that have insured their children with BUPA or any other insurer for medical (in hospital) coverage. Our child is now 6 which makes her eligible for coverage at a reasonable premium. The BUPA rep. in Udon explained the various policies available for her. ( my lady and I have separate insurance policies.) Mine from the States, hers from previous employer which allows her to keep coverage as long as she pays the monthly premium. Therefore, we are looking to just insure our child.

The policies the BUPA rep. discussed seemed to be more of a whole life insurance policy than that of medical coverage. The medical coverage was terrible, better paying out of pocket than the exorbitant premiums required. I would like to have medical coverage for WATTANA hospital because the few times I have been there, they were very efficient and effective. I am now hearing that perhaps Bangkok Hospital is also a good place to take our child in a medical emergency.

I would like to know that we have a good policy that will cover our child's medical needs in a good hospital. Thai people have a tendency to rush their family members to hospital even though they only have a case of the sniffles. I had to stop family from insisting our daughter go to hospital because she had a cold. I had baby aspirin for fever if and when, she developed one, and gave her plenty of fluids and kept an eye on her when sleeping listening for congestion. The grand parents insisted on an all night vigil. Our daughter was fine the next morning, the grand parents were not.

I would like to take advantage of the child wellness packages available at both WATTANA and Bangkok Hospitals if anyone has experience with them I would appreciate hearing from you.

Thank you

Thank you

With Medical Insurance (as with most things in life) you get what you pay for. There are different levels of coverage depending on the type of hospital one would like to use e.g. the Government style V Private/International. One has also got to factor in treatment outside Udon (BKK ?) should something serious happen and a specialist hospital needed.
AA Ins Brokers can offer all the various plans offer from the different companies but do require a little information.
For quotes & info please go to http://www.aainsure.net/email/get_quote_form.php

Post by **bumper** » August 18, 2013, 11:55 am

AA Insurance brokers a question for you.
Mod Note: Moved to Insurance Thread

Post by **KHONDAHM** » August 20, 2013, 1:51 am

The KD family has been with BUPA for the past 10 years. We started with platinum for me and diamond for the wife and daughter (then 3 y.o.) and soon learned we were paying more in premiums than we were claiming in coverage. It took a couple of years to figure out the Ruby plan was the way to go. We either just about break even or we claim more than we pay in premiums plus out of pocket. My son, now 3 1/2, has been covered since after birth.

I think for the four of us, we are paying about 60k/year in premiums plus about 10-15k out of pocket. We eat healthily and stay safe. My daughter is usually the one who brings home maladies from school since other parents seem to not care enough to NOT send their sick children to school.

The child wellness packages are nice, but the inoculation package we purchased for my son at Bangkok Pattaya is not honored at Bangkok Udon. So, the majority of the 16k we paid for it was a waste and we have been paying out of pocket for his shots at Wattana (cheaper). Otherwise, I would say the packages are worthwhile if your child is attending school.

We have experienced Aek (hated it), Wattana (ok for pediatrics), and Bangkok Udon (love it!). Know that BU will charge the max your insurance will cover in most cases. Usually not a problem, but ever since a couple of bad experiences at Aek, we still get a pre-procedure estimate for anything "major" so that we are not unduly surprised.

Post by **LoneTraveler** » August 20, 2013, 12:20 pm

Thank you Khondahm for the information:

I am going to speak to the BUPA rep. today so your post is good timing. As I stated in my original post I am looking to cover only my daughter ( 6 yrs old ). I will look into the wellness packages at Wattana and Bangkok Udon. And I will discuss the Ruby plan with the BUPA rep. for major medical coverage. Insurance is a gamble paying premiums year after year in the event you may one-day need to make a claim. However,without insurance, a person's life can become a financial nightmare in a heartbeat. But paying premiums (platnium or diamond plan) can be costly which as you state
"we were paying more in premiums than we were claiming in coverage." Therefore I will seek out a basic plan for now and see how it goes in terms of meeting her medical needs.

Post by **AA Ins Broker** » August 20, 2013, 3:43 pm

May we respectfully request all Insurance topics be posted in the Insurance Forum to help leave other Forums clear ?
Thank you

Post by **FrazeeDK** » August 27, 2013, 11:50 am

finally received my Bangkok Hospital check-up "booklet" via mail today nearly six weeks after my checkup.. Guess they had to prepare it special since its in English.. My wife got hers which was in Thai a bit over a week after the checkups.

Post by **parrot** » August 27, 2013, 12:37 pm

FzD, I'd suggest you call Kurt at the hospital and let him know. He and John do seem determined to get things right at the hospital. No guarantees, but maybe better service for the next guy.

Post by **bumper** » March 4, 2014, 4:40 pm

Had an interesting visit today, did run across John it was good to see him. The found a gall stone eight months ago, so it was a followup to see what was going on. The nice thing about it, they new we needed an Ultra Sound, That was completed before we saw the doctor. The surgeon himself was who we talked with, The right Dr. not bounced around.

He was very clear in his explanation both in Thai and English. She now has more stones. But is, asymptomatic, he saw no thickening in Gall Bladder walls. So at this juncture an elective procedure. I fully expected her to be admitted and the surgery to be done. So with his explanation the my wife has decided that we will wait and check it again in six months.

So as far as I'm concerned no pushing for money.

I have no idea what causes the stones he told me three probable causes, two I can relate, the third was past me.

One was a bile backup. I would assume that would be the result of an inconsistent bowel movement's.

The second high cholesterol, with all the fried foods eaten here that certainly is possible.

The first Dr, we talked to eight months ago was fairly insistent in having the surgery then as it would be a very small incision involved. In taking with the surgeon he indicated that in 90% of the cases the small incision, was all that was needed. Waiting and checking it in six months would not change that.

What impressed me was he left it up to my wife.

The question that is lurking in my mind, is if she has the surgery, will followup surgeries be needed?

So anyway I was impressed with the honesty.

Everything took about an hour and a half.

Total cost 2,300 baht I find that to be very reasonable, for the level and quality of service provided.

Post by **bumper** » March 4, 2014, 5:03 pm

This pretty much explains that causes of gall stones, to include the one I didn't understand. Unlike other stones they can not be treated with medication. The wife tried that it didn't work. As I recall kidney stones can be broken down with ultra sound

Post by **wazza** » March 7, 2014, 3:00 am

Bumper

so can Gallstones, in the right clinical environment

Keyhole surgery for gallstones is the norm now, no massive 5 day admissions.

Good to see you had a happy ending ( no pun intended lol )

Sadly I had a poor impression on a friends admission last Sonkran, very poorly managed, and when clinically challenged they ducked for cover.

If a patient is admitted for vomiting and dehydration, why give oral medications, when an IV is insitu !!

All u do is create more vomiting when trying to keep the water and tablets down !

Had to get the NEW doctor to approve the anti emetic and the admitting Dr in ER refused to come up and sign after being clinically challenged , took over an hour to get it administered due to " Saving Face Considerations "

Post by **maaka** » March 7, 2014, 4:47 am

heck wazza, you have been blathering on this morning on EVERY thread..hahahaha..did you miss us Digger
nice to see your back Mate..

Post by **bumper** » March 7, 2014, 8:27 am

I'm sure there will be good and bad experiences everywhere. So far mine have been good. Everything is subject to change.

Post by **pauludon** » March 7, 2014, 11:22 am

My wife had a stone removed in her gull bladder last year at the public hospital in laparoscopy.all good and free.we only pay 400 baht for a private room.she it's Thai so everything free.